In Brief: October 6

During a visit to Texas, President Obama stopped at Eastfield College this past Tuesday, where he read a copy of The First Pup by Bob Staake (Feiwel and Friends, 2010) to children at the college’s Children’s Laboratory School. The First Pup was one in a spate of picture books about presidential pet Bo, a Portuguese water dog, that were published after his adoption in 2009 by the Obama family. Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images.

The title character of Mo Willems’s 2009 pop-up book Big Frog Can’t Fit In couldn’t be contained by his own book. Don’t even think about trying it when it comes to Willems’s latest creation: a 1,500 pound elephant sculpture that was installed Saturday, October 1 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass. More than 400 people attended the installation of the Red Elephant, which measures five feet high, 14 feet long and seven feet wide. Here, Willems signs a tote bag for a young fan. Photo: Kristin Angel © 2011 The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

The eighth annual Orange County Children’s Book Festival took place this past Sunday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif. More than 30,000 people turned out for the event, which had four stages: one for animal-themed books, a stage dedicated to illustrators, a YA stage, and the main stage. Dozens of authors and illustrators took part, including Molly Shannon, Robin Preiss Glasser, D.J. MacHale, and Cecil Castellucci, among many more. Seen here, l. to r., are several of the authors who participated in the festivities: Lisa Desrochers, Jeff Marriotte, Gretchen McNeil, Heather Brewer, Cindy Pon, Inara Scott, and Katie Alender.

This past Monday night, Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Ga., hosted a book launch party for Laurel Snyder’s middle-grade novel, Bigger Than a Bread Box (Random, Sept.). In the novel, 12-year-old Rebecca discovers a magical breadbox that grants her anything she wishes for, as long as it fits inside the box. In addition to reading from the book, Snyder delivered a ukulele rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart,” a song that features into the storyline. Photo: Katie Moss.

Last week, HarperCollins’s Walden Pond Press imprint held a “tweetstakes” in honor of the publication of Anne Ursu’s middle-grade novel Breadcrumbs, in which fifth-grader Hazel tries to rescue her friend Jack from a strange fairy-tale fantasy land. To enter the contest, Twitter users had to follow Walden Pond Press and retweet its giveaway message for a chance to win an iPad (this is the imprint’s third such Twitter giveaway). The winner: Sarah Wethern, a librarian at Douglas County Library in Alexandria, Minn., seen here showing off her new iPad. The other winner: Walden Pond Press, which gained 350+ followers and lots of retweet exposure.

Author Lisa Schroeder recently celebrated the release of her middle-grade novel Sprinkles and Secrets (S&S/Aladdin, Sept.) at Powell’s in Beaverton, Ore. A follow-up to Schroeder’s It’s Raining Cupcakes (2010), the story revolves around 12-year-old Sophie’s conflicted feelings about auditioning for a TV commercial promoting a competitor to her best friend’s family’s cupcake business. Befitting the subject matter, sweets were on hand at the event, making for a happy crowd of young fans, seen here with the author.